The heads of the German and British governments, as well as the French president, want to speak with Donald Trump to prepare for the conversation the US president will have with Vladimir Putin tomorrow, in an attempt to end the conflict in Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said today.
"I spoke with (US Secretary of State) Marco Rubio, and about tomorrow's phone call," Merz said, according to a German government statement.
"We (the heads of state and government of France, Great Britain and Germany) have agreed to speak again with the American president in order to prepare that conversation," said Merz, who attended the first mass of the new head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, at the Vatican today.
Several other political figures were also present in Rome, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, French Prime Minister Francois Bayroux, US Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Europeans and Americans are determined to work together, in a targeted manner, to bring this terrible war to a swift end," said Merz, whose country is the second-largest supplier of military aid to Kiev, after the United States.
"We have made some small steps forward in recent days. The parties to the conflict are talking to each other," Merck added, although Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul on Friday, the first since spring 2022, did not result in a ceasefire.
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